Date of Award
12-14-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Early Childhood Education
Capstone Instructor
Dr. Kelly Sadlovsky
Second Reader
DeShawn Woods
Keywords
early childhood, play-based learning, developmentally appropriate practices, equity, play
Abstract
This paper examined research about the lack of play in early childhood and how early childhood educators and others could bring play back into classrooms equitably. Play was a developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood classrooms. “We have in us a natural innate built-in drive designed to push us to learn and experience important principles of creativity, things like; curiosity, discovery, exploration, experimentation, communicating, and socializing. This instinctive drive is called play” (Skaggs and Twede, 2023, p.167). Play allowed learners to grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Bendixen-Noe (2010) stated that the importance of play in learning was known and often undervalued. In this paper the history of play was examined along with benefits of play and ways to bring play back into Early Childhood (EC) classrooms. There were ideas about how to bring more play into classrooms as educators understood the research around the importance of play-based learning.